Southwestern University Joins Tuition Rewards® Enrollment Consortium
Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) September 20, 2013 -- Southwestern University, providing students with a distinctive, values-centered education since 1840, has joined the SAGE Scholars Tuition Rewards® private college & university enrollment consortium. Texas’ first and oldest institution of higher learning, Southwestern is located in Georgetown (just north of Austin) and is the 7th Texas independent college member of Tuition Rewards.
Grand, century-old limestone buildings accent the heart of Southwestern’s tree-lined residential campus, offering spacious sports and recreational facilities, multiple research laboratories, two live-performance theaters, roomy residence halls and so much more. Southwestern’s community Pirate Bike program is unlike anything in Texas; these bright yellow bikes scattered across campus are ready to ride anytime, day or night.
The Paideia experience introduces Southwestern students to intentional connections through collaboration, participation in civic engagement activities, intercultural learning experiences and undergraduate research and creative works. Students think across the disciplines to form new solutions, ultimately integrating their knowledge, high-level problem-solving skills and deep learning as they apply their scholarship to essential questions of the world around them.
Southwestern’s most recent, three-year post-graduate survey data finds that 93% of graduates are either employed; attending medical, law or other professional schools; or, pursuing advanced studies.
One of the nation’s leading liberal arts colleges, Southwestern is featured in Loren Pope’s book, Colleges That Change Lives. 14 CTCL schools are Tuition Rewards members.
June 2013 high school graduates submitted Tuition Rewards points valued at $27.2 million to the consortium’s 300+ member colleges. Drexel University (214 submissions) and Duquesne University (108) were the most popular choices. Regional leaders included DePaul University, Rochester Institute of Technology, University of Dayton, University of San Diego, University of Tampa and Valparaiso University.
The SAGE Scholars-sponsored program encourages families to save for college and helps member colleges recruit students. Students enroll in Tuition Rewards through family affiliations with participating financial institutions and employers or through an affiliated scholarship program; students earn rewards points that can be redeemed for guaranteed minimum tuition discounts at participating colleges. The colleges benefit by the ability to market to the 280,000+ participating students (once they reach 9th grade). Member colleges find the demographics attractive – students from families who are saving for college and who have expressed interest in attending a private college.
“The fact that the number of enrolled students now exceeds 280,000 affirms our belief that parents and grandparents, if they truly understood the unique value of private education, could give their children and grandchildren the most precious of all gifts -- a quality education,” declared Dr. James B. Johnston, SAGE Chairman & CEO. “It is apparent that our value to member colleges increases as we enroll more students in our free, searchable database. We intend to do this by dramatically increasing our marketing outreach, both in the U.S. and abroad.”
39,893 new students joined Tuition Rewards in 2012. Neither students nor colleges pay a fee to join. Financial organizations use Tuition Rewards as a value-added benefit, paying a fee to cover administrative and marketing costs. Colleges absorb the scholarships, which are capped at one full year’s tuition, as a marketing cost to be able to effectively reach out to a wider student audience than an individual college could on its own.
15 new colleges have joined the SAGE consortium in 2013, with Baldwin Wallace University (OH), Goshen College (IN), Hampden Sydney College (VA), Point University (GA), Randolph College (VA), the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MA) and St. Bonaventure University (NY) among the new members in the past three months.
“As attested by its level of growth, the SAGE Scholars Program has proven to be an effective way to make private colleges affordable,” declared Dr. Allen P. Splete, former President of the Council of Independent Colleges and a member of the SAGE Advisory Council.
Robert Savett, Sage Scholars, Inc., http://www.tuitionrewards.com, (215) 564-9930, [email protected]
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